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James H. Lutschg, MD
Baton Rouge, La

JAMA. 1992;267(24):3287.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—In a recent issue of JAMA, Irwig et al¹ noted, "In applying the NCEP [National Cholesterol Education Program] recommendations, it is inevitable that a proportion of those tested will be misclassified because of within-individual variability." Gwynne² editorialized on this matter in the same issue: "In this, as in most areas of medicine, we must make treatment decisions based on incomplete information."

Is it, however, necessary to have to make treatment decisions based on misinformation? The NCEP reported on other risk factors for coronary artery disease in 1988.³ In this report (Table 4), one risk factor was noted to be cigarette smoking (currently smoke >10 cigarettes per day). It was gratifying to see that by 1990, the expert panel of the NCEP appreciated that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for coronary artery disease.⁴ The mechanism by which they corrected their understanding of cigarette . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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